Chief Mentor: The Five Myths of Management

Many years back, a young engineer came to me with an unusual problem. His colleague and friend had just become his manager, and had been behaving strangely. In meetings, his new manager would contradict his ideas, or try to find flaws in his suggestions. Earlier, they were close buddiesin mutual appreciation, and frequently built on each other’s ideas.

The young manager, when confronted on this change in behavior, was surprised. “Am I not expected to behave this way?,” he wondered, not understanding that it’s perfectly fine for a manager to accept good suggestions from others.

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In our corporate existence, we try to play out roles, rather than live our lives. In the process, we miss out on being ourselves because of trying to live by perceived expectations of business. And we do all this with the best of intentions, to do what’s perceived as good for business.

Management focuses on accountability, and rightly so. The conscientious manager takes on personal accountability for all that the team does. Sometimes obsession with accountability and meeting targets every time can lead to behavior that is harmful in the long run, and often unhelpful to the team performing for you. Such avoidable behavior, however, is not etched in a manager’s DNA, but a consequence of management folklore built over the last century. Let’s explore some of those:

1. You can’t manage what you can’t measure

This is true, but do we need to manage everything? Can mutual respect, empathy, cooperation, passion, commitment, be measured? And are these important attributes we’d like to see in every manager, and in their teams? Even if we could measure these, what would we do with such measurement? And do we really want to “manage” commitment, respect, or cooperation?

Managers who overuse this principle may be leading teams that are excellent at solving known problems, but not as innovative when it comes to unfamiliar situations.

2. A good manager leads from the front

This is a wonderful dictum, especially when team members have low morale, need support, or cannot get out of a crisis on their own. However, too much of this, particularly in good times, can stifle growth of individual team members. People with aspiration are best left alone by good managers – they figure out how to excel in different situations, take decisions, make mistakes and learn. The manager can play a supportive role by encouragement and the capability to discern when the risks being taken are too high, i.e. the size of the potential damage is a lot more than the potential lessons from a decision.

Managers who overuse this principle may find respectful team members but ones with less than desired experiential learning.

3. The manager knows all the answers

This has not originated from known management folklore, but comes to dominate the psyche of managers eager to demonstrate their value to the team. This psyche is among the most detrimental to the team and to manager relationships. In the knowledge era, no one person has all the answers. The need to fly solo leads to paralyzed teams in situations where the problem is obvious, but answers are not. The manager feels the pressure to find the answers, but does not communicate with the team to brainstorm solutions. Brainstorming solutions together leads to dropping of guard, and encourages open communication and building on one another’s ideas. Solutions arrived by this method will also have team buy-in, hence higher chances of success. It is good for a manager not to have to play God – let the team accept its manager for what he or she is.

The manager who seeks answers from the team and engages them in decision- making also shares concerns with the team whenever there is a need to think through solutions. Planning through the early stages of a project, weighing alternatives, trying to find innovative ideas, or responding to unanticipated situations, are all good occasions to involve the team. Sadly, highly competent achievers often battle it on their own while the team is gossiping about the manager’s perceived lack of action.

I have seen managers respond to a difficult question, with a question. This is a good way to engage the minds of intelligent people.

4. First time right!

Sounds very impressive, but this is the biggest impediment to innovation, or even any action. What we need today is the confidence to go wrong. The ability to quickly recognize mistakes, and to learn from them is often more important than to be right. We need to make decisions in a rapidly changing world where we don’t have all the information – quick first steps, listening to responses, and smart improvisations will give us success more often. Waiting to act until we perfect our plan can take forever and results in a lack of action.

5. Carrot and stick approach

While this approach is good for law enforcement or compliance with to regular processes, this is unlikely to positively impact inspiration or innovation. Such an approach to incentives can lead to under-commitment, and sticking to known territory. It can inhibit risk taking, passion or taking stretch goals.

All these are wonderful guiding principles for good managers, but like all human principles, they don’t apply all the time. Unfortunately, most of these are compliance tools applicable to known processes and familiar situations, where predictability is most important. These tools are likely to be ineffective whenever we are chasing the unknown, responses are unpredictable, or we foresee discontinuities.

In a knowledge era, we are expected to lead people who know more than us, are faster and more confident. When we work together, we explore multiple perspectives thus increasing the chances of success. Our teammates get energized when their solutions are chosen, or understanding when they see why another solution is decided on. Inspiring leadership, with the confidence to take risks and learn from mistakes, works better in discovering paths we could not have found on our own.

This approach has its own perils – there are more chances for mistakes, disappointment, and chaos. But I would rather opt for this than choose the heavy load of always having to be right, perennially remaining ahead of the pack, being forever predictable, and having to focus on data and numbers rather than passion and the excitement of novelty. Chances are, one will also end up creating a less stressful environment conducive to collaboration and innovation—and happier people.

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